Five days in August

In November 2011, the Riots Communities and Victims Panel (Simon Marcus, Heather Rabbats, Baroness Maeve Sherlock, Chaired by Darra Singh and ‘set up' by Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg) produced an interim report into the riots which bedevilled England in August 2011.

This said:

“Between 6-10 August 2011, we estimate that 13,000 - 15,000 people were actively involved in the riots. More than 4000 suspected rioters have been arrested. NINE OUT OF TEN WERE ALREADY KNOWN TO THE POLICE.

In total, MORE THAN 5000 CRIMES WERE COMMITTED, INCLUDING FIVE FATALITIES, 1860 INCIDENTS OF ARSON AND CRIMINAL DAMAGE, 1649 BURGLARIES… AND 366 INCIDENTS OF VIOLENCE AGAINST THE PERSON.

The overwhelming majority of those brought before the courts so far have been male and had a previous conviction. AT LEAST EIGHTY-FOUR PEOPLE HAD COMMITTED 50 OR MORE PREVIOUS OFFENCES EACH. Three-quarters were aged 24 or under. Of children brought before the courts, TWO THIRDS HAD SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS…

The riots which began in Tottenham spread across the country with unprecedented speed… The vast majority of people we spoke to believed that THE SOLE TRIGGER FOR DISTURBANCES IN THEIR AREAS WAS THE PERCEPTION THAT THE POLICE COULD NOT CONTAIN THE SCALE OF RIOTING IN TOTTENHAM AND THEN ACROSS LONDON.

LACK OF CONFIDENCE IN THE POLICE RESPONSE TO THE INITIAL RIOTS ENCOURAGED PEOPLE TO TEST REACTIONS IN OTHER AREAS. Most of the riots began with some trouble in retail areas with a critical mass of individuals and groups converging on an area. RIOTERS BELIEVED THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO LOOT AND DAMAGE WITHOUT BEING CHALLENGED BY THE POLICE. IN THE HARDEST HIT AREAS, THEY WERE CORRECT...

Significantly, PEOPLE IN MANY AREAS FELT THEY TOO WOULD HAVE EXPERIENCED RIOTING IF THE DISTURBANCES IN OTHER AREAS HAD CONTINUED FOR MUCH LONGER. FEW PEOPLE RULED OUT THE PROSPECT OF RIOTS IN THE FUTURE...

We heard some harrowing stories on our visits to areas affected by rioting. Lives were lost. PARENTS HAD TO CARRY CHILDREN OUT OF BURNING HOMES LEAVING A LIFETIME OF POSSESSIONS BEHIND TO BE DESTROYED. Shopkeepers lost everything they had built up over many years.

The consequences of the riots are still being felt. In many areas, there is an overriding sense of despair that people could destroy their own communities…

We heard a range of motivations from THE NEED FOR NEW TRAINERS TO A DESIRE TO ATTACK SOCIETY… Many people asked how a wider collapse in values may have contributed to this situation. They were shocked to see so many of their fellow citizens engaged in criminal, sometimes violent behaviour, apparently oblivious to the consequences for themselves and for others. They questioned whether the issues of BANKERS’ BONUSES, MPS’ EXPENSES, AND A LACK OF PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY HAD CREATED A MORAL VACUUM IN SOCIETY…

We know from rioters’ criminal histories that MOST RIOTERS HAD COMMITTED OFFENCES BEFORE. THE CHANCE TO DO SO EN MASSE, APPARENTLY INCREASING THE NUMBER OF OPPORTUNITIES AND REDUCING THE CHANCES OF BEING CAUGHT, SEEMS TO HAVE REPRESENTED A SIGNIFICANT MOTIVATING FACTOR FOR MANY...

The fact that many people abused society’s moral and legal codes when the opportunity arose paints a disturbing picture. Most disturbing to us was A WIDESPREAD FEELING THAT SOME RIOTERS HAD NO HOPE AND NOTHING TO LOSE...

THE POLICE DECISION TO WITHDRAW TO THE PERIPHERY OF RIOT-HIT AREAS LEFT MANY COMMUNITIES FEELING THEY HAD BEEN ABANDONED. All the seriously affected communities felt that POLICE NUMBERS WERE NOT HIGH ENOUGH and that THE POLICE DID NOT ACT QUICKLY ENOUGH TO ENGAGE WITH THE RIOTERS. There is still much distress and anger in communities about the police response...

We were concerned at the level of DESPONDENCY AND ANXIETY AMONGST THE YOUNG in particular…

We heard a lot about THE SENSE OF HOPELESSNESS FELT BY YOUNG PEOPLE in many areas…

We were frequently told by communities that POOR PARENTING WAS THE UNDERLYING CAUSE OF THE RIOTS…

Ministry of Justice data shows that by 12 October 2011, 1,984 defendants had appeared before the courts for crimes committed during the riots. They were: 90% males; 26% aged 10–17; 27% aged 18–20; 21% aged 21–24; 5% aged over 40; 42% were White, 46% WERE BLACK (including mixed Black background), 7% were Asian and 5% were Other.” 5 Days in August

Subsequently, Darra Singh said this:

“Our findings support the view that, HAD THE POLICE RESPONSE IN TOTTENHAM AND MORE WIDELY IN LONDON BEEN MORE ROBUST, THE RIOTS WOULD NOT HAVE SPREAD ELSEWHERE IN ENGLAND. Our research has also led us to conclude that RIOTS OF THIS NATURE WILL HAPPEN AGAIN."

The report seems as straightforwardly descriptive of events and critical of the establishment as it ought to be. However, I must say that Nick Clegg’s Lib Dem fingermarks were all over the selection of those who produced it.

Bradford-born Darra Singh is the Chief Executive of Job Centre Plus and former Chief Executive of Ealing and Luton Councils. He has been a director of the North British Housing Association and was later appointed Chief Executive of the Asra Greater London Housing Association which specialises in housing ethnic minority tenants.

Simon Marcus has worked for the British Chamber of Commerce in Brussels. He has also tried, unsuccessfully, to enter parliament as a Tory MP in 2010, standing against Margaret Hodge and, amongst others, Nick Griffin, in Barking.

He is Jewish, as is Margaret Hodge.

Interesting that the major parties should both be represented by Jews in this constituency, don’t you think? Especially when you consider that just 0.05 percent of the British population is Jewish.

Baroness Maeve Sherlock was appointed a life peer in 2010. She served as Chief Executive of the National Council for One Parent Families from 1997-2000 and was the Chief Executive of the Refugee Council from 2003-2006.

Despite having left school with next to no GCSEs, Jamaican immigrant, Heather Rabbats, went on to become a BBC Governor, a qualified barrister, the youngest ever CEO of Merton and Lambeth Council, Head of Education at Channel 4, a Governor of the London School of Economics, a Director of the Bank of England and the Royal Opera House, a Board Member of the UK Film Council, a Trustee of the British Council and Deputy Chairman of Millwall Football club despite knowing next to nothing about football.

Which does rather smack of positive discrimination and jobs for the girls (of the West Indian, class dunce variety), don’t you think?

So, Nick Clegg appoints a second-generation subcontinental, a Jew, a Jamaican immigrant and an A1 do-gooder to figure out why the riots occurred. As previously stated, this is no reflection upon them, the interim report seems balanced enough, but what it tells you about Nick Clegg (75 percent immigrant himself) is instructive.

As regards the ethnic breakdown of the rioters presented by the panel, here are a few extrapolations:

According to 2009 governmental estimates, 87.5 percent of the people living in England were white; 6 percent were of Asian origin, 2.9 percent were Black and 1.9 percent were mixed-race. Most of this latter group will have been mixed-race Blacks so, for the sake of the forthcoming extrapolation, let’s say 1.6 percent would have been of ‘mixed Black background’.

It can be seen from the statistics presented that Blacks were 46/42 times more likely to riot than Whites. However, as Whites outnumber Blacks in England by a ratio of 87.5/(2.9 + 1.6) = 19.44, then an individual black person is somewhere in the region of 19.44 x 46/42 = 21.3 times more likely to riot in this country than an individual white person.

Using the same extrapolation, an individual Asian person, despite the governmental and media propaganda insisting that the Asian community did not participate in the riots, is 7/42 x 87.5/6 = 2.43 times more likely to riot than an individual white person.

I’ll say that again, according to an ethnic breakdown of the statistics produced by the August riots: black people are around 21.3 times more likely to riot in this country than white people and Asian are about 2.4 times more likely.

And, of course, the black folks started it.